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Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

But truly, the king of pecans is found in the simple, classic, unadulterated southern pecan pie. I think a lot of people end up with runny pecan pie for a couple of reasons. Too much butter, overbeating and impatience to name a couple. I assure you, this pecan pie is fail proof, it really is! Just make note of the tips, don't make adjustments in the ingredients and your pie will be a perfect pecan pie.

Now, there are all sorts of variations of pecan pies out there that use different ingredients - adding chocolate, whiskey, bourbon, coconut and a wide range of add-ins. This recipe here is just good ole, classic and plain, old fashioned, southern pecan pie, based on the old Karo syrup recipe from a hundred years ago, but with my own twists, tips and pie success variations! I've included some of the most popular variations.

I've also included a cooked filling variation in the notes. Cooking the filling changes the texture a bit by dissolving the sugar and making for a smoother filling, more gooey and custardy in a way, almost caramel-like. The filling is also a little richer in flavor from cooking it. You can also sub in rice flour in the original version to adapt that along with a gluten free crust for that variation.

I like using the chopped pecans personally. They float to the top as they cook and to me that's pretty enough, and they make the pie much easier to cut than one topped with whole pecan halves. You can use the pecan halves arranged nicely on top instead though, if you prefer.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the pie crust by placing it into an ungreased, regular 9-inch glass pie plate and fluting the edges.

Whisk the eggs together, then whisk in the sugar. Stir in the syrup and the softened butter; mix well. Add the flour and the vanilla; combine well and fold in the pecans.

Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for about 55 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Shield outside edges of the pie with a pie shield or aluminum foil about halfway through cooking to prevent overbrowning.

Cooked Filling Version: Whisk the sugar and corn syrup together in a saucepan and bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute only. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. Beat eggs in a separate bowl and very slowly drizzle some of the syrup into the eggs, while beating constantly, to temper. Once syrup is incorporated well into eggs, whisk eggs into the remaining syrup mixture. Omit flour and increase butter to 1/2 stick. Stir in the butter, vanilla and pecans and bake as above.

Chocolate Pecan Pie: Reduce pecans to 3/4 cup and add in 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips with the pecans.

Bourbon Pecan Pie: Omit the vanilla extract and add 1 tablespoon of a good quality bourbon.

Pecan Pie Tips:

►Toast the pecans for extra flavor.

►Don't use a blender or a mixer. Use a whisk and a wooden spoon and hand mix only ... and don't beat it to death! Many pecans pies end up runny due to over-beating.

►Shield the edges of the pie about halfway through the cooking time to prevent over-browning.

►Let the pie cool completely before slicing. You should be able to hold the pie pan flat in the palm of your hand and it not be uncomfortable. If it's still too hot to do that, it's too hot to cut!

►The pie is done when a knife inserted into the center comes out fairly clean. The filling will still seem a bit jiggly as a whole, but that's normal and remember, it will continue cooking a bit even after removed, so you don't want to overcook it!

Material Disclosure: Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

Jim-49 saidMary,Mary,I stop to get a cup of coffee,having to bake 2 cakes,and you put,such a pretty,lovely pie up!! That "Pecan pie or pecan anything is my weakest point.I will try to ignore it,but sooner or later,I will have to make it,this week end.Looks lovely,so Lovely!!

My mom was the pecan pie queen when I was growing up (coulda had something to do with those pecan trees in the yard!) I never cared for them much then, but now I'd be tickled to have one. Yours looks just delicious :)

Thank you for posting such wonderful recipes! I have tried others of yours in the past, which is exactly why I came here FIRST to look for a special recipe to take to my grandchildren on Gramma's Surprise Visit last weekend. My daughter loved it, the grandkids (I call them "My Perfects") had seconds, and the love-of-my-life was very happy with it too! (OH! I even got a piece!!)

Just wanted to let you know how great it turned out for me too - the longest thing was cracking all those pecans (I pronounce it "pe-cahns", not "pe-CANS" like some people do) - I'm thinking paying a little bit more for a bag of already shelled pecans would be very worth it!

Thank you again, I just wanted to let you know you added so much to our family's Valentine's Day weekend~ I appreciate so much your wonderful page with such great recipes you share! (I have met people before who keep their best recipes to themselves, you share yours, God bless you!)

I'm gonna try it, AGAIN. My favorite is "Pecan Pie". I TRY to cook all the time but can NOT cook a Pecan Pie. For some reason, it is always runny. I bet it's because I over beat it. I'm gonna try it "One More Time". If this is it, I can't thank you enough!!! Thanks again, Pam

My husband loves this pie. Being a southern girl I love to cook, but unfortunately my mother did not. Being a new housewife invited to the thanksgiving dinner of a family of fine southern cooks, I was terrified. Five years ago they told me to bring desert... Thinking, I'm sure that it was the only thing I couldn't mess up. Five years later my husband, brother, & MOTHER IN LAW ( :) haha ) ask for this pie by name. Thanks for teaching me what my mama didn't.

I just discovered your website this morning and being a true "Southern Girl" from head to toe,I am so happy to see all the southern recipes.This is the pecan pie my mother always made and now I try to make it as good as she did.Love your recipes!!!!!

I discovered your website this morning and have been on it all day looking at all your recipes.Being a true"Southern Girl" from head to toe,I want to say a big Thank You.Your pecan pie recipe is the recipe my mother used for years and now I am making the pecan pies.

Made this pie for my mom-in-law's birthday. It was a hit! I'd never made a pecan pie before, so I was nervous, but the recipe was effortless and yielded delicious results. Making it tonight for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow...trying the Bourbon variation :) Thank you again for this recipe! :)

This recipe is wonderful and fool proof! I made my first pecan pie for a pot luck style family dinner, they literally scraped the crumbs off the pie plate. I was told to make two for Christmas. I also have to make my brother in law one tonight. It is a crowd pleaser for sure.

Thank You Thank You Thank You i finally found a pecan pie recipe that my dad loves. a old lady at our church uesed to make him one every year for his birthaday but she passed on 5 years ago and since then no pie has lived up to hers.Well this one did so thank you i finally made him happy. he even asked me to make another one.

Hi Carolyn! I write the recipes for unsalted because that's what I keep on hand. I just like controlling the added salt myself really, but yes, you can pretty much always sub in salted - just keep that in mind with any other sodium or added salt in whatever recipes you are using. For instance here, I would definitely use a natural pecan, rather than salted especially if using salted butter. I think salted would work fine in this recipe and offset the sweetness a bit even!

Oh my goodness! Well, thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment, and I'm honored to have somebody who is 88 years old even consider coming to my little ole cooking blog to begin with, but I do believe that had you read my post, you would have noted that I wrote and I quote ... "This recipe is based on the old Karo syrup recipe from a hundred years ago, but with my own twists, tips and pie success variations!"... meaning just that. I'm pretty sure Karo doesn't include my very specific recipe directions and the tips that I have accumulated over the years and that I believe have helped quite a few of my readers here make their first perfect pecan pie. You would not believe how many people write to tell me that they have failed to make a good pecan pie until they found this recipe.

Also, I do consider this to be an old fashioned pie since it's been around longer than me and that's pretty old fashioned. :) The pie you are referring to is more of a New Orleans pie and is a whole 'nother pie that I'm sure I'll get around to posting some day - the problem is, those pies are far too strong flavored to me and well... I happen to love THIS pie just the way it is.

Again thanks for visiting and while I disagree with your comment, I appreciate your input.

I am a desserts person! I have made pecan bars, but never made a pecan pie. Using this recipe, I made my first pecan pie yesterday. Perfect recipe! Enough said!

Wait a minute, no it's not enough! When I think about cooking and want a proven recipe, your site is my go-to-site. I trust your recipes and I have tried many of your recipes—pancakes, apple hand pies, buttermilk biscuits, and many others. Each recipe is tried and true—no wasted ingredients. A sincere thanks from me to you for sharing such wonderful recipes!

I am a desserts person! I have made pecan bars, but never made a pecan pie. Using this recipe, I made my first pecan pie yesterday. Perfect recipe! Enough said!

Wait a minute, no it's not enough! When I think about cooking and want a proven recipe, your site is my go-to-site. I trust your recipes and I have tried many of your recipes—pancakes, apple hand pies, buttermilk biscuits, and many others. Each recipe is tried and true—no wasted ingredients. A sincere thanks from me to you for sharing such wonderful recipes!

I am a desserts person! I have made pecan bars, but never made a pecan pie. Using this recipe, I made my first pecan pie yesterday. Perfect recipe! Enough said!

Wait a minute, no it's not enough! When I think about cooking and want a proven recipe, your site is my go-to-site. I trust your recipes and I have tried many of your recipes—pancakes, apple hand pies, buttermilk biscuits, and many others. Each recipe is tried and true—no wasted ingredients. A sincere thanks from me to you for sharing such wonderful recipes!

I am a desserts person! I have made pecan bars, but never made a pecan pie. Using this recipe, I made my first pecan pie yesterday. Perfect recipe! Enough said!

Wait a minute, no it's not enough! When I think about cooking and want a proven recipe, your site is my go-to-site. I trust your recipes and I have tried many of your recipes—pancakes, apple hand pies, buttermilk biscuits, and many others. Each recipe is tried and true—no wasted ingredients. A sincere thanks from me to you for sharing such wonderful recipes!

I am a desserts person! I have made pecan bars, but never made a pecan pie. Using this recipe, I made my first pecan pie yesterday. Perfect recipe! Enough said!

Wait a minute, no it's not enough! When I think about cooking and want a proven recipe, your site is my go-to-site. I trust your recipes and I have tried many of your recipes—pancakes, apple hand pies, buttermilk biscuits, and many others. Each recipe is tried and true—no wasted ingredients. A sincere thanks from me to you for sharing such wonderful recipes!

I am a desserts person! I have made pecan bars, but never made a pecan pie. Using this recipe, I made my first pecan pie yesterday. Perfect recipe! Enough said!

Wait a minute, no it's not enough! When I think about cooking and want a proven recipe, your site is my go-to-site. I trust your recipes and I have tried many of your recipes—pancakes, apple hand pies, buttermilk biscuits, and many others. Each recipe is tried and true—no wasted ingredients. A sincere thanks from me to you for sharing such wonderful recipes!

Hi Cheri! To be perfectly honest, I don't know for sure but with large versus extra large, generally speaking it's one for one until you get to more than four eggs. That said, I've only used large eggs for this pie and I don't know for sure that using extra large wouldn't affect the texture. I think it would work, but just haven't tested it. Let me know if you give it a spin though!

This looks delicious! A quick question/suggestion: in the "cooked filling" directions, you say to cook the eggs with the syrup and sugar over heat in a saucepan, but then the next step is to beat the eggs separately before adding the mixture. I'm assuming that you do NOT initially cook the eggs over heat with the syrup/sugar... This would cause a scrambled egg pie!

Yes scrambled egg & pecan pie would probably not be that tasty LOL! For that variation, whisk the sugar and corn syrup, boil then temper the eggs with the mixture before combining them. Sorry about that!

Made the pie tonight using the cooking method and it turned out perfect. I toasted the pecans for 6 minutes in a 350° oven before I chopped them. It all was delicious and people cried for more. Thanks Mary.

Let it cool completely, then cover it with plastic wrap and it will be good for 3 to 4 days. If you wrap it tightly in several layers of foil, then put into a large freezer bag, you can freeze it for a month or slightly longer.

Hi! I can't say for certain because I use a standard 9-inch glass pie plate when I bake this. You might be able to do it with 4 eggs and 1-1/2 recipe for everything else. Please let me know the outcome if you try it!

I love the picture of your pie it does not look runny. I have had bad luck with runny pies. I hope this doesn't sound silly but What is the difference between the cooked version with more butter and the original recipe w/flour you have posted? Taste and texture wise? Does one taste sweeter, creamier, smoother, or runnier?

This came out great! I followed the recipe exactly just had to use a generous Tablespoon of rice flour and a gluten free pie crust because my hubby's Celiac. He said this was a keeper I got it spot on. Thanks again.

Hi Elizabeth! I'm so sorry but I live along the Gulf Coast so I haven't a clue about high altitude cooking and baking. If you do a Google search there are some tips from Betty Crocker right at the top of the page. Apparently you do have to make quite a few adjustments, both in ingredient amounts and also oven temperature. Sorry I can't help more.

I live alone so wanted to make a mini pecan pie in a 6 inch pan. I used my Moms old recipe and it came out too liquid in middle. I know I used a mixer and guess I beat it too much. If I want to do this recipe in a 6 inch pan how would I do it? Can someone help me? I will try again for New Years. Thanks....

A 6-inch pan would require about 2/3rds of this recipe - although your mom's recipe would probably work fine, just follow the tips here, especially regarding hand mixing. I think you'll find success with it then!

This was my first pecan pie and my first homemade pie crust...and I chose to make it for Thanksgiving! It was a risk that paid off tremendously!!! Not only was it super easy to pull off, but it was THE best tasting pecan pie I have ever had!!! no changes or adjustments needed, keep it simple, people....no need to mess with a perfectly fine pie!!!

My daughter has been asking me to make a pecan pie for over a year. I was afraid to mess it up! I finally broke down and made 2 of the cooked version of this (afraid of the flour taste and texture) with salted butter and Marie Calendar's frozen crust, which I had not used before, as I rarely bake a pie. My son grabbed a piece of this to take to his girlfriend's mother before I got a chance to even see what the inside looked like! I thought maybe I overcooked it and it was too dry. I had also never tempered eggs before, so I was afraid I messed that up also, even though I took my time. But when I tasted it, I had a very difficult time actually not eating the entire thing. I mean, we are talking perfection! I wanted it to be somewhat "caramel-like," and it was. Everyone loved it, including my son's girlfriend's mother! (I really like her.)

Also, looking through your site here, I am anxious to return and try other recipes. I am not commonly a blog-reader, but this feels very homey!

My daughter has been asking me to make a pecan pie for over a year. I was afraid to mess it up! I finally broke down and made 2 of the cooked version of this (afraid of the flour taste and texture) with salted butter and Marie Calendar's frozen crust, which I had not used before, as I rarely bake a pie. My son grabbed a piece of this to take to his girlfriend's mother before I got a chance to even see what the inside looked like! I thought maybe I overcooked it and it was too dry. I had also never tempered eggs before, so I was afraid I messed that up also, even though I took my time. But when I tasted it, I had a very difficult time actually not eating the entire thing. I mean, we are talking perfection! I wanted it to be somewhat "caramel-like," and it was. Everyone loved it, including my son's girlfriend's mother! (I really like her.)

My husband loves pecan pie and I wanted to search out a recipe that did not create a runny filling so I tried yours. It came out beautifully and I thank you so much for your tips! I made one pie for thanksgiving this year and just made another cause hubby couldn't get enough! Very awesome of you to share!

I made this Pecan Pie today for our Christmas Eve celebration and it was delicious! I love the crunchy texture of the pecans and it was just the right amount of sweetness. Thank you! I will be using this recipe from now on.

Merry Christmas to your family from mine!!! This pecan pie was awesome. It was very easy to prepare and your instructions were very easy to follow! This was my first pecan pie to make and ever since I saw this recipe this summer, I've been so excited about it and its finally here! Thank you so much for helping me put the right amount of sweetness in our Christmas! Merry Christmas and I hope 2016 is even better to you than 2015!!!

I have a frozen short bread pie crust I am going to try this recipe with. I saw a recipe that called for brushing the crust with egg yolk and baking for 5 minutes at 325 before adding the filling. What do you think? Should I do this, not do this or break down and go to the store for another pie crust? LOL :)

Pecan squares are divine & they're made with a shortbread crust! Who wants to go back to the store right now either?!! ;) Check the directions though because you may need to go a little bit longer with the shortbread crust for pre-baking but yes, I think it will be delicious!

Thanks for recipe and tips. Pie came out perfect, including the appearance. I only use 1/3 cup sugar, my household dont like pies that too sweet. Pie crust, before adding filling, I pre baked crust long enough to evoporate excessive moisture, then I added filling and baked as instructed.I baked 2 pies for New Year's Eve,It was very easy like sunday morning.Again thanks for sharing recipe.

Made this pie for my son, Greg's, 20th Birthday yesterday and it was a superb! You have quite a list of recipes that I want to try out. I'll be happy to post to FB and Pinterest as well. Until the next recipe!

Thanks for taking the time to comment - I love hearing from readers and I read every single comment and try to respond to them right here on the site, so stop back by!

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